I'm watching your video about 11 months after you posted it. Really enjoyed the info & hearing your experience with the Cornish Cross. We are a small family farm operation specializing in poultry production from Cornish Cross Meat Chickens, & I found everything you shared to be consistent with our experiences with them, too. Our farm goals are producing top quality poultry, providing excellent quality of life to our livestock, & promoting agriculture (especially promoting folks to connect to farmers wherever local is for them). It was interesting to see how our observations line up with yours even though we don't raise them in chicken tractors; we have a 30'×30' barn we built for meat production chickens....I found it really interesting that even with that difference of yours in the tractors & ours in the building, it's really a very similar set of observations! I love the long feeder you made. I'm subscribing to your channel. I can appreciate the time & effort your videos take. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for the kind words! We did get more CC's this year and processed 67 this past weekend. We have 39 more on pasture. We held back 7 to incorporate into our dual purpose breeding program in an attempt to harness some of their qualities. Welcome tp the channel, and thanks again!
@JK-jf7xq so far, we are not impressed with the Delaware. Consider, though, that we are raising them as egg layers because we were going to try a cross breeding. They are very feed inefficient even when free ranging. We currently have Freedom Ranger color yields that we are raising for meat. So far, they are doing well.
I’ve run all three, Delaware, American Bress, and Cornish Cross, and by far and away the Cornish grows to harvest size WAAAAAY faster. The Bresse get big but they take twice as long. The Delawares take twice as long and they still dont get as big. The feed conversion ratio on the Cornish is ridiculous. Usually about 15lbs of feed per bird for 8 weeks is what you’ll end up running through. I love dual purpose birds for self sustainability, but when I want to put meat in the freezer, I run Cornish Cross. When they go lame I process them at whatever size they go lame at, because going in there and hand moving them every day takes too much time. They end up getting run over or starving to death if not. It’s just what it is,
@@patriotridgefarm I am just starting, what would you suggest for a "best tasting and HARDY" ? ... I want to raise for meat and egg, but especially want to hatch and raise .... so hardiness/vitality is important.
@1truthseeking8 we're just diving into the dual purpose for both eggs and meat. Delaware broilers were the standard before Cornish Cross came along,. Freedom Rangers are a good choice. American Bresse are getting good reviews from others as well.
@@1truthseeking8 i would highly suggest the American Bresse for your purposes. They are expensive to buy, so you’ll definitely want to hatch and breed your own. But even if you end up having to buy them, the flavor is so worth it, you won’t regret it anyway. Get some buff orpingtons to use as mother hens to brood your chickens. Just make sure you only have Bresse roosters and keep them separate from each other, and label the hens so you know which ones have been with which rooster. You can go backwards in the dna line, aka children mating back to grandparents, but you dont want to go forward, children mating with children. If you can get your hatching process down right so the costs to run them are as low as possible, you’ll never look back. They definitely take 14-16 weeks to grow as big as the Cornish Cross, and their feed conversion is nowhere near as good. If you give them kefir or soured milk on top of their feed for the last two or three weeks, they’ll put more fat marbling on and you’ll turn them into $250 a plate french bresse chickens. Keep us posted!
My best runs were actually on 19% duck feed (had a bunch left over), at 7 weeks they averaged 8.5lbs straight run, on 22% I only averaged 7 lbs at the same age, same exact conditions.
thumbs up on the Delaware Broilers! I'm just brooding my first batch of them (ordered them last November to get April delivery from MacMurray Hatcheries). Trying 10 Delawares, 10 Ginger Broilers (hybrid, so no self-sustainablility here), and a handful of Buff Orpintons. At 3 weeks the Del's are much bigger and heavier than the Buffs, though not quite as big as the hybrids. We'll see how that plays out. Anyway,, enjoyed your video, and luck with your new birds!
Raised 250 CC in the high desert of the Rocky Mountains, lost about 50. Due to congestive heart failure as we are to high in elevation, some to pneumonia, and others for unknown reasons. They are just not hardy and absolutely require a total mixed ration of commercial feed. We will raise freedom rangers next year as we need more hardiness.
Last year and years past McMurray hatchery had a chicken they were calling “Cornish Roaster”. I don’t know which strain it was, but it was the best CornishX chicken I ever raised, no leg or walking problems, no health problems, got huge if you let them go for longer… McMurray don’t have them this year due to avian flu, so I had to get Cobb 500 from metzer farms, gross and disgusting birds these are… I’m working on my own meat chickens now, dark Cornish rooster with a few different hens like white rocks, barred rocks, Sussex, beilefelder, even got a American breese hen in there…
you may think im crazy but with all of my chickens i prefer light brahmas for eggs and meat free range giants , larva feeding cheap to raise you will love their temperament as well
I raise a small flock of these every year last year I bought 60 was given 64 in case of dead loss lost 7 birds before maximum weight was achieved 2 of that 7 I was able to harvest at around 5lbs some of the 5 died as chicks some as almost ready but I don’t tractor them outside they stay inside my coup I feed them in chick tray feeder to start then change to 4 round hopper feeders they hold about 15 lbs of feed once chicks are big enough and keep the feed topped up with a large round waterer in the center and the led shop light on at night for 2 months and end up with a 9lb average in the birds harvested and it only took 2 months to raise from chick to finish i bedded them with hay changing it every 4 days they will eat to many shavings they are dumb but hay gave them forage they pecked at instead of other birds I find these birds don’t like it outside they try to get out once they are out the want to get back in the just want to eat drink and poop and lay down also I feed organic not the cheapest crap feed I can find and we don’t buy chicken at the supermarket we process and package at home and our kids can tell the difference and don’t like the store chicken
I'm doing the same thing but on a much much much smaller scale - did I say much smaller? I've got egg layers; sapphire gem, Easter egger, buff orpington, and have 2 bloodlines of freedom rangers coming. I'll pick a hen and roo from each and try to make a dual purpose bird out of them. I know the rangers don't breed true, but it should be interesting to see what I get by crisscross breading the Buff Orpington roos with FR hens and vs versa. The gems are prolific layers; 6 eggs a week, so getting those genetics in there somewhere may be good as well. Easter eggers are overrated so it's unlikely I'll breed them. Last note, FR hens are also prolific layers by some reports ~320-340 a year.
Did you have any lame birds last year? Just curious if possibly the lower protein feed you used this year may have contributed a bit to your couple lame birds this year.
Bresse need to be "Finished" A certain way (high fat raw milk) and they need to graze/forage for bugs. Everything I've seen heard suggests trying to finish A Cornish or Ranger in the same way is pointless as is trying to mix Bresse and Cornish. The "Fat Gene" seems to require help to express itself and does not seem to transfer to mutts.
@@TacklingTheGiants I got my chicks from a farm in Pontotoc Mississippi. I am not happy with them due to the roosters being very aggressive. I may start over with birds from a different farm, but I will research some first. I’ve hatched out chicks twice with the same result.
First thing is space. If you don't want industry style birds don't cram them in like that. Second raise your meat birds when it's cool, not in the middle of the summer. Third, let up on the feed a little.
I'm watching your video about 11 months after you posted it. Really enjoyed the info & hearing your experience with the Cornish Cross. We are a small family farm operation specializing in poultry production from Cornish Cross Meat Chickens, & I found everything you shared to be consistent with our experiences with them, too. Our farm goals are producing top quality poultry, providing excellent quality of life to our livestock, & promoting agriculture (especially promoting folks to connect to farmers wherever local is for them). It was interesting to see how our observations line up with yours even though we don't raise them in chicken tractors; we have a 30'×30' barn we built for meat production chickens....I found it really interesting that even with that difference of yours in the tractors & ours in the building, it's really a very similar set of observations! I love the long feeder you made.
I'm subscribing to your channel. I can appreciate the time & effort your videos take. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for the kind words! We did get more CC's this year and processed 67 this past weekend. We have 39 more on pasture. We held back 7 to incorporate into our dual purpose breeding program in an attempt to harness some of their qualities. Welcome tp the channel, and thanks again!
I want to try the Delaware Broilers. Every year, I raise Freedom Rangers, and I love those. They average 6 1/2 lbs at 12 weeks.
@JK-jf7xq so far, we are not impressed with the Delaware. Consider, though, that we are raising them as egg layers because we were going to try a cross breeding. They are very feed inefficient even when free ranging. We currently have Freedom Ranger color yields that we are raising for meat. So far, they are doing well.
I’ve run all three, Delaware, American Bress, and Cornish Cross, and by far and away the Cornish grows to harvest size WAAAAAY faster. The Bresse get big but they take twice as long. The Delawares take twice as long and they still dont get as big. The feed conversion ratio on the Cornish is ridiculous. Usually about 15lbs of feed per bird for 8 weeks is what you’ll end up running through. I love dual purpose birds for self sustainability, but when I want to put meat in the freezer, I run Cornish Cross. When they go lame I process them at whatever size they go lame at, because going in there and hand moving them every day takes too much time. They end up getting run over or starving to death if not. It’s just what it is,
We have ordered more to put in the freezer until we can build our own sustainable flock. I don't disagree with anything you stated. 100% facts.
@@patriotridgefarm I am just starting, what would you suggest for a "best tasting and HARDY" ? ... I want to raise for meat and egg, but especially want to hatch and raise .... so hardiness/vitality is important.
@1truthseeking8 we're just diving into the dual purpose for both eggs and meat. Delaware broilers were the standard before Cornish Cross came along,. Freedom Rangers are a good choice. American Bresse are getting good reviews from others as well.
@@1truthseeking8 i would highly suggest the American Bresse for your purposes. They are expensive to buy, so you’ll definitely want to hatch and breed your own. But even if you end up having to buy them, the flavor is so worth it, you won’t regret it anyway. Get some buff orpingtons to use as mother hens to brood your chickens. Just make sure you only have Bresse roosters and keep them separate from each other, and label the hens so you know which ones have been with which rooster. You can go backwards in the dna line, aka children mating back to grandparents, but you dont want to go forward, children mating with children. If you can get your hatching process down right so the costs to run them are as low as possible, you’ll never look back. They definitely take 14-16 weeks to grow as big as the Cornish Cross, and their feed conversion is nowhere near as good. If you give them kefir or soured milk on top of their feed for the last two or three weeks, they’ll put more fat marbling on and you’ll turn them into $250 a plate french bresse chickens. Keep us posted!
My best runs were actually on 19% duck feed (had a bunch left over), at 7 weeks they averaged 8.5lbs straight run, on 22% I only averaged 7 lbs at the same age, same exact conditions.
We experienced bigger and more consistent weights with 18% on our last run. Nearly all were 8 lb. Carcasses or more.
thumbs up on the Delaware Broilers! I'm just brooding my first batch of them (ordered them last November to get April delivery from MacMurray Hatcheries). Trying 10 Delawares, 10 Ginger Broilers (hybrid, so no self-sustainablility here), and a handful of Buff Orpintons. At 3 weeks the Del's are much bigger and heavier than the Buffs, though not quite as big as the hybrids. We'll see how that plays out. Anyway,, enjoyed your video, and luck with your new birds!
How did you end up liking that Delaware's? How good are they when cooked (tender, tough, or stringy)?
Nice honest guy without trying to boast. Good work.
Raised 250 CC in the high desert of the Rocky Mountains, lost about 50. Due to congestive heart failure as we are to high in elevation, some to pneumonia, and others for unknown reasons. They are just not hardy and absolutely require a total mixed ration of commercial feed. We will raise freedom rangers next year as we need more hardiness.
Mexicans out where I live use dog food. Healthy chickens, healthy feathers too.
They do like a bit of crumbled dog food.
Last year and years past McMurray hatchery had a chicken they were calling “Cornish Roaster”. I don’t know which strain it was, but it was the best CornishX chicken I ever raised, no leg or walking problems, no health problems, got huge if you let them go for longer… McMurray don’t have them this year due to avian flu, so I had to get Cobb 500 from metzer farms, gross and disgusting birds these are… I’m working on my own meat chickens now, dark Cornish rooster with a few different hens like white rocks, barred rocks, Sussex, beilefelder, even got a American breese hen in there…
you may think im crazy but with all of my chickens i prefer light brahmas for eggs and meat free range giants , larva feeding cheap to raise you will love their temperament as well
I raise a small flock of these every year last year I bought 60 was given 64 in case of dead loss lost 7 birds before maximum weight was achieved 2 of that 7 I was able to harvest at around 5lbs some of the 5 died as chicks some as almost ready but I don’t tractor them outside they stay inside my coup I feed them in chick tray feeder to start then change to 4 round hopper feeders they hold about 15 lbs of feed once chicks are big enough and keep the feed topped up with a large round waterer in the center and the led shop light on at night for 2 months and end up with a 9lb average in the birds harvested and it only took 2 months to raise from chick to finish i bedded them with hay changing it every 4 days they will eat to many shavings they are dumb but hay gave them forage they pecked at instead of other birds I find these birds don’t like it outside they try to get out once they are out the want to get back in the just want to eat drink and poop and lay down also I feed organic not the cheapest crap feed I can find and we don’t buy chicken at the supermarket we process and package at home and our kids can tell the difference and don’t like the store chicken
I'm doing the same thing but on a much much much smaller scale - did I say much smaller? I've got egg layers; sapphire gem, Easter egger, buff orpington, and have 2 bloodlines of freedom rangers coming. I'll pick a hen and roo from each and try to make a dual purpose bird out of them. I know the rangers don't breed true, but it should be interesting to see what I get by crisscross breading the Buff Orpington roos with FR hens and vs versa. The gems are prolific layers; 6 eggs a week, so getting those genetics in there somewhere may be good as well. Easter eggers are overrated so it's unlikely I'll breed them. Last note, FR hens are also prolific layers by some reports ~320-340 a year.
Yes. We had FR's before and they were great layers. Keep us posted on your progress!
Did you have any lame birds last year? Just curious if possibly the lower protein feed you used this year may have contributed a bit to your couple lame birds this year.
We had more in previous batches with higher protein feed.
I’ve got 30 Bresse coming at the end of this month (March). My mindset is the same as yours, I’ll follow along and we’ll learn together.
Bresse need to be "Finished" A certain way (high fat raw milk) and they need to graze/forage for bugs. Everything I've seen heard suggests trying to finish A Cornish or Ranger in the same way is pointless as is trying to mix Bresse and Cornish. The "Fat Gene" seems to require help to express itself and does not seem to transfer to mutts.
Where did you order them from and how did you end up liking them?
@@TacklingTheGiants I got my chicks from a farm in Pontotoc Mississippi. I am not happy with them due to the roosters being very aggressive. I may start over with birds from a different farm, but I will research some first. I’ve hatched out chicks twice with the same result.
@@Wakeywhodat Thank you. Have you tried Delaware chickens?
@@TacklingTheGiants I'm not familiar with them.
Mike, That Inch worm stole your video. lol
I didn't even realize that's what was tickling my neck.
😮 my horror when I realized that there's some kind of worm/caterpillar making it's way up the back of his head and he has no IDEA.😰😱 🤢
It was an inch worm. I figured it out.
How big of a cage would I need for 20 meat birds?
1.5 square ft per bird if raising on pasture and moving everyday.
❤❤
Where did you get your Cornish X chicks? What hatchery?
We've used a couple different ones. These came from Myers Hatchery in PA.
We've used a couple different ones. These came from Myers Hatchery in PA.
@@patriotridgefarm Thanks.
Corners crosses the very best meat chicken in the world that is
First thing is space. If you don't want industry style birds don't cram them in like that. Second raise your meat birds when it's cool, not in the middle of the summer. Third, let up on the feed a little.
CC are fine but you need to harvest them at 6- 8 weeks or less. That's why your losing so many.
“They just went lame.”
They get too fat to walk. It’s well known.
At the 3:50 mark, I clearly state this.